Night in Luin
by yggnomial
Summary: After helping to rebuild Luin, the party stays in the inn for a night's sleep. But Lloyd has some questions for Kratos that he wants answered. Just a one-shot of oyako fluff between Lloyd and Kratos. No yaoi.


This is just a little piece of fluff between Lloyd and Kratos. It was one of my first real attempts at a happy moment, so I was inexperienced. I wrote it to cheer a friend up and decided to post it up here. I'm not too sure how ic Kratos is in this near the end (the game lacked references for this kind of thing), so bear with me please?

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"Hey Da- Kratos?" Lloyd said. He and Kratos were sharing a room at the Luin inn. They had helped rebuild it and many of their friends were exhausted and had fallen asleep hours ago. Kratos almost never slept, often watching his son sleep to make up for the lack of memories he had of him. But Lloyd had too many questions that needed answering to sleep tonight.

Kratos looked up from staring at his lap. Lloyd remained silent around Kratos for a while after Yuan had told Lloyd who his real father was. It was a little awkward for the both of them, so they avoided each other as much as they could. But after a long day of helping restore Luin, they needed to rest in actual beds and they could no longer avoid one another.

"What is it?" Kratos asked him. He hated hearing Lloyd fixing his slips and still calling him Kratos, but the boy would come around eventually. He hoped.

"Well, nevermind." He turned back around in the bed and pulled the blanket up to cover the lower half of his face.

"Lloyd, this is the fourteenth time you have not finished your statement," Kratos said. "Either tell me what it is you want me to know, or go to sleep. The sun set several hours ago."

Lloyd shuffled under the covers and remained silent for over five minutes. He eventually worked up the nerve to ask Kratos, "Is it too late to ask you something?"

Kratos shook his head slightly. Noticing that the boy was still turned away, he said, "If you will finish this time, go ahead."

Lloyd waited almost another minute before deciding how he wanted to phrase his question. "What was mom like?"

Kratos paused slightly before answering. "She was unlike any woman I have met before. I see some of her in you."

Lloyd turned to look at him. "Really?"

"Yes. Your eyes resemble hers. Also your personalities are... quite similar to say the least. She didn't like the way Desians were treating the humans, and all those years in the ranch hadn't broken her spirit." Kratos did not mention how "spirited" Anna could become when he had forgotten to change Lloyd's diaper, or fed him incorrectly, or thrown him in the air without unequipping his Exsphere.

"So you're saying I'm like mom?"

Kratos would not admit it out loud, but that boy really needed things to be spelled out for him slowly. "You are very much like her."

"Did she love me?" Lloyd asked. He looked slightly concerned.

Kratos was unsure of how to answer that. "I am sure she did. From what I hear from the dwarf, it was her dieing wish to keep you safe. And while she was still alive, she was always looking out for you. One time Noishe had broken a hole in the door during a thunderstorm. You went outside looking for her because you were afraid. She leapt in the way of a Grasshopper that had attacked you."

"Wow, Mom must have been an amazing woman." Lloyd found a sudden fascination with the floor. While his head was still down, he asked "Did you love me?"

Of course he'd loved him. He was his last link to Anna, and his son. But there were no words to say what he wanted. "...Yes."

Lloyd looked hurt at his hesitant response, but tried to look like he didn't care. Kratos tried again to talk. "I was never what you would call a 'good' father. I had little previous experience with children, especially ones your age. And I was reluctant to help raise a child after what happened to Mithos."

Lloyd got out of the comfort of the bed to walk to Kratos on the other side of the room. Kratos looked up to stare his son in the face, although he avoided his eyes. "Of course you're a good father. You've helped us countless times even before I knew I was your son. And Mithos wasn't your fault. There are some things that are out of your control, like Martel's death."

Kratos blinked. Lloyd didn't catch the sudden drop of his guard, and he quickly masked it. He thought that highly of a traitor like him? He was leaving for Derris-Kharlan as soon as they defeated Mithos, which could be any day now. A good father wouldn't do that to his son.

"You wouldn't do anything to hurt me, right?" Lloyd grinned. "And you're my dad. I can't hate you."

That did it for Kratos. It was the closest to him being called "Dad" in over 14 years, even if it wasn't directly. He slowly stood and kept his eyes turned down. Lloyd looked up and tried to catch his gaze, but Kratos wouldn't look at him. He awkwardly placed his left hand over Lloyd's head and let it rest there. He cleared his head of all thoughts, trying to hold onto this memory. He would need it for when he left him.

Lloyd's eyelids drooped. He was normally asleep hours before this time. He leaned into Kratos's chest for support and tried to hold them open. "M'not tired," he said, his usual response to Dirk when he wanted to stay up later than normal or Raine when he was in class.

"You should be in bed, Lloyd," Kratos said quietly. He found it was hard for him to raise his voice or put any more emotion in it. "We have to be up early tomorrow."

"M'not...sleepy." Lloyd had almost his full weight against Kratos as he tried to stay awake. He had so many questions that needed answering, and if he was asleep he couldn't ask. He gripped the fabric of Kratos's pants and rubbed his eye with his free hand.

Kratos allowed himself to smile a bit and wrapped his right arm around the boy's middle. He sat there for several minutes until Lloyd finally passed out against his chest, still standing. He lifted Lloyd carefully and laid him carefully in the bed, covering him with the blankets once more. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching him sleep. He knew they had to make it to Derris-Kharlan before it moved too far away, but he also knew that was when he would leave. If he could spend a little more time like this, maybe waiting was worth the risk.

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I hope that doesn't sound too pedophilic and creepy. *_* It's meant to be strictly oyako bonding-type fluff. Was it okay.


End file.
